


In Honor

by devilinthedetails



Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: F/M, Family, Grief, Honor, Loss, Parenthood, gratitude, naming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 06:22:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17259182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilinthedetails/pseuds/devilinthedetails
Summary: Thayet and Jon want to honor Liam's sacrifice.





	In Honor

**Author's Note:**

> Based on Tammy's interview account of how Liam got his name, which I always thought was very moving.

In Honor

Thayet couldn’t sleep with her third as yet unborn child kicking inside her. Rubbing her palms over the swell of her pregnancy, she hoped this soothing touch would somehow seep through her skin to calm her agitated baby. As she tried to comfort the child she had never seen, she marveled as she always did at how intimately she was connected to this unknown being who was still so much of a mystery to her. She didn’t even know the baby’s name. If the child was a girl, in the fullness of time, she would be named Lianne in memory of Jon’s loving mother, but if the child was a boy, she and Jon had nothing to call him yet. So far, they had only agreed that they wanted a strong, honorable name for a second son. 

Turning this over in her mind, Thayet realized that nothing could be more honorable than naming their son in honor of one of the strongest warriors she had ever known, the Shang Dragon who had fallen in the coronation battle that was now far enough in the past that surely it couldn’t be deemed crass to name a child after its greatest lost hero…

“Jon,” she whispered, because the pattern of Jon’s steady breathing beside her, which she recognized as much as her own after years of marriage, assured her that he was still awake. “If the baby is a boy, I want to name him Liam.” 

“Thank you. It’s a good choice, a wonderful one.” Jon’s hand drifted over the blankets to lift hers to his lips for a kiss. She thought her husband understood the grief she felt for Liam, the need she had to honor his sacrifice, until Jon went on dryly, “And it will offend none of my nobles, thank Mithros.” 

“That isn’t why I suggested it.” Thayet’s voice trembled, and she hated the tears that suddenly stung at her eyes. 

“I know it isn’t.” Jon gathered her close before she could turn away from him, her movements slowed by the bulk of the baby she carried inside her, and she realized he must have been hiding his pain behind the wry humor she didn’t want to hear when she was trying to honor the dead. “I would have liked it even if it had offended my entire court. I always wished I could have thanked him.” 

“This will be our thank you to him,” murmured Thayet, relaxing into Jon’s warm embrace as the baby finally settled down to sleep inside her, making her wonder if the baby liked the name Liam as much as she and Jon did.


End file.
